Crime & Safety

Chase Suspect Nearly Hits Pedestrian, Tries to 'Fake Out' Officer

A Johnston man faces charges of eluding an officer and resisting arrest following an Oct. 20 high-speed chase.

 

Johnston Police arrested a local man for resisiting arrest and leading an officer on a high-speed chase on Oct. 20, during which he nearly struck a pedestrian on Simmonsville Avenue.

Ptlm. Mark Bairos reported that he saw the car driven by Lorenzo DiBiaso, 49, of 9 Enfield St., go past him "at an estimated speed of over 50 mph" in the 30-mph zone of Simmonsville Avenue just before noon on Oct. 20.

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Bairos wrote that DiBiasio "turned his head and looked directly at me" as he sped past.

As he pursued DiBiasio on Simmonsville toward Plainfield Pike, Bairos reported that DiBiasio "increased his speed and went left of the double center lines" to pass another car.

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DiBiasio also drove around a car stopped at the intersection of Simmonsville and Plainfield, Bairos noted in his report.

Because of heavy traffic on Plainfield Pike, DiBiasio couldn't get to the I-295 South offramp, and when Bairos pulled up alongside his car, DiBiasio made gestures with his hands in an attempt "to fool me by portraying that the suspect vehicle had entered onto 295 South," Bairos wrote.

When Bairos ordered DiBiasio to leave his car, Bairos said he "instead attempted to make a phone call."

Bairos reported that he "physically removed" DiBiasio from his vehicle and ordered him to place his hands behind his back.

After DiBiasio "instead locked his hands by his sides," causing Bairos to "forcefully pin him against his vehicle," Bairos wrote.

Following his arrest, DiBiasio said that he was on the way to check on his father at an address on Plainfield Pike, according to Bairos, who added that Johnston Fire Personnel had gone to check on DiBiasio's father and determined that he "was suffering from apparent heartburn."

The pedestrian, Richard DelFino, told Bairos that he had been crossing Simmonsville Avenue and "had to jump out of the way to avoid" DiBiasio's vehicle.

Officers presented DiBiasio for arraignment at Johnston Police Headquarters before Justice of the Peace Christopher Millea, who released him on $1,000 personal recognizance until a scheduled Oct. 31 hearing in Third District Court, Warwick.


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